Sin is Behovely…

Posted on February 12, 2016February 12, 2016 by Leesa Bell

Sin is behovely, but all shall be well,

and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well.

Julian of Norwich

1342-1416 Christian Mystic

When a friend quoted Julian of Norwich to me, I wanted to slug her. My life was in total meltdown. I felt victimized, sinned against, and I was angry. How dare she say everything shall be well!

And whatever did it mean to say, “Sin is behovely?” Behovely? What kind of medieval nonsense is that?

Behovely…it means that sin serves a purpose. Yes, sin is ugly. Yes, sin causes suffering. Yes, we want to avoid the tragedy of sin at all costs. At the same time, what Julian is getting at is the immensity and power of God’s love. God works in spite of our sin, and even through our sin, to bring about a greater good.

In Romans, chapter 8, St. Paul makes the audacious claim: “We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.”

All things? Really? Even suffering? Even sin? Both Paul and Julian would say yes. Paul concludes Romans chapter 8 with the ringing declaration that nothing “will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Sin is behovely. It took me years and many hours of prayer to wrap my brain around the meaning of these words. Today I am convinced that it is only when we hit bottom, that is, when we fully accept the tragedy of sin and our part in it that we can begin to grasp the immense measure of God’s love.

By the grace of God I have survived my life’s various meltdowns. More important, God used each crisis to teach me some painful truths about myself. They have proven to be opportunities to grow in ways I’d never imagined. And while I would never wish those experiences on my worst enemy, I treasure everything I learned from them.

Sin is behovely. If we are honest about our faults and open to God’s power, God will use all things, even sin, as an opportunity for transformation. Saints, they say, are merely sinners who have been driven into the arms of God.

What might change for us, during this penitential season of Lent, if we started to see sin as behovely? What if repentance was less about shame and guilt—and more about learning and growing from the painful experience of sin? What if we began to trust that all shall be well?

As we move towards the great mysteries of Holy Week and Easter, trust in the immensity and power of God’s love. Surrender all aspects of your life to God, even or perhaps especially, the suffering and sin you have known. Then wait for the new life that awaits you.

There’s a wideness in God’s mercy,
like the wideness of the sea;
there’s a kindness in God’s justice
which is more than liberty.
There is no place where earth’s sorrows
are more felt than up in heav’n.
There is no place where earth’s failings
have such kindly judgment giv’n.

‘Tis not all we owe to Jesus;
it is something more than all:
greater good because of evil,
larger mercy through the fall.
Make our love, O God, more faithful;
let us take you at your word,
and our lives will be thanksgiving
for the goodness of the Lord.

Text: Frederick W. Faber, 1814-1863, alt.

Blessings,

Pastor Margrethe

RESETTING OUR PREFERENCES (When We Default to Factory Settings)

Posted on January 19, 2016January 28, 2016 by Leesa Bell

"Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds"...Romans 12:2

"Repentance means more than being sorry. It means being different." ...A New Kind of Christianity, Brian McLaren

When I get a new device or download the latest version of an operating system or an upgraded software program, I spend time setting my preferences. For a period of time, life with my device goes smoothly. Then, inevitably something gets corrupted or there is a conflict or a bug. Forced to do a hard restore to resolve the issue, my device will revert back to factory settings.

I think about sinful behavior as a kind of default factory setting. Most of us want to be kind, loving, generous and gracious human beings. That is our preference for our lives. We want the same for our children. Yet, under stress, we revert to our factory defaults.

A thoughtless driver cuts us off and we automatically lay on the horn in self-righteous anger. We involuntarily roll our eyes when someone espouses a political opinion different from our own. We instantly criticize our co-workers because their ideas or organizational style does not conform to our way of doing things. And when our loved ones push our buttons, do we not immediately find ourselves mentally rehearsing their faults and failings and nursing our feelings of resentment?

Self-righteous, judgmental, critical and resentful thoughts arise by default when we are confronted with difficult situations. From there it is just a short step to harsh words and unkind deeds.

The point is not to blame or condemn but to recognize and accept the reality of our sinful nature—our default settings. Yet if we want to change, if we want to be different, if we want to widen our repertoire of responses to include patience, compassion, gentleness and forgiveness, we need help resetting our preferences. We need God’s grace.

The church in its wisdom set aside certain seasons of the church year for preparation and renewal. Lent is one of these seasons. It is a time for self-examination, the purpose of which is to bring to awareness the frequency with which we default to arrogant, self-righteousness, judgmental, critical and resentful thinking. Such self-examination is difficult. It is even more difficult to accept that we can’t, try as we may, change the way we are hard-wired.

The purpose of Lent is to make us aware of our default settings so that God can transform us—resetting those preferences. St. Paul urges us, “Be transformed by the renewing of your minds.” Note that St. Paul uses the passive voice. He doesn’t say,“Transform yourself.” Rather, he encourages us to be open to the power of God to change us, to renew our minds, to reshape us in God’s own image. Paul reminds us elsewhere in scripture that it is not by our own strength and resolve that we change but that, “It is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” If we want to be different, widening our repertoire of responses to include patience, compassion, gentleness, and forgiveness, it will be God’s work, not ours.

As we begin our Lenten journey, both individually and as a community of faith, let us engage in the self-reflection and repentance that marks a radical reorientation toward God. And may God renew our minds, refresh our spirits, and change our hearts.

Pastor Margrethe

Time

Posted on November 22, 2015November 22, 2015 by Leesa Bell

Keep awake therefore, for you do know neither the day nor the hour.

Matthew 25:13

It has often been pointed out that there are two kinds of time. Chronos or chronological time is marked by seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks and years. Chronos time is about the past or the future.

In contrast, kairos time cannot be pinned down. Kairos time is the moment of opportunity—the time appointed by God. And here’s the paradox about kairos time; precisely because kairos time cannot be pinned down, it is a moment in the here and now.

Most of us spend our lives driven by chronos time. We are either looking back at the past, regretting what we did or didn’t do, or forward to the future, fretting about what we need to do next. This is particularly true of the days leading up to the holidays. Retailers count down the number of shopping days before Christmas. They urge us to take advantage of the time limited Black Friday or Cyber Monday sales. According to these voices the clock is ticking and if we don’t hurry we will miss out.

Driven by chronos time, the holidays become the season of busyness. There are parties to host and to attend. There are gifts to buy. There are trips to plan. There are lights to be hung and trees to trim. There are phone calls to make and e-mails to send. The list of holiday “to do’s” is endless.

As a result, the holidays become a source of stress. The pressure of trying to get it all done, and get it all done just right creates a situation in which we are either regretting the past or fretting about the future. Existing in chronos time alone rob us of the joy of the season.

What if, just for a moment each day this holiday season, we set aside our obsession with chronos time? What if, just for a moment, we ceased all activity and entered intentionally into kairos time? What might we discover?

Entering into kairos time can be as simple as pausing for a moment and asking yourself “Where is God for me in the here and now?” Maybe you will discover that God is speaking to you through the brilliant blue winter sky or the sparkle in your child’s eye. Maybe you will hear the voice of God as you pause to listen to the words of a Christmas carol. Maybe you will feel the love of God as a stranger warmly greets you and lends a helping hand.

Paying attention to the presence of God in the here and now, entering into kairos time, is simple but not easy in a chronos driven world. It is spiritual ninja work. Perhaps that is why the gospels urge us to keep awake, to watch, and to wait attentively. For as the poet Ann Weems reminds us, “God will be where God will be.” If we are not attuned to God in the here and now, if we are stuck in the past or caught up in the future, we will miss the coming of God in the present moment.

My hope and prayer for all of us is that, amidst the busyness of this season, God will grace your days with moments of kairos time in which we know the joy of the season.

Pastor Margrethe

Hearth and Home

Posted on November 8, 2015November 8, 2015 by Leesa Bell

HEARTH AND HOME

Let us build a house where love can dwell and all can safely live,

a place where saints and children tell how hearts learn to forgive.

Built of hopes and dreams and visions, rock of faith and vault of grace;

here the love of Christ shall end divisions;

All are welcome, all are welcome,

All are welcome in this place.1

The council and representatives from the transition team had a wonderful retreat at the end of August. For one activity we broke into three groups. Each group chose a biblical story it felt Holy Trinity Lutheran Church was living and paired it with a hymn.

One group felt the story of Jesus blessing the children (Mark 10:13-16) best exemplified our community and chose Marty Haugen’s hymn, All Are Welcome as our theme song. Another group selected the hymn, A Mighty Fortress is Our God, and referenced Ephesians 6:10-18 in which Paul encourages Christians to put on the whole armor of God. The final group said the story of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32) described our community of faith.

There is a common thread. A Mighty Fortress is our God describes a safe haven, a God who will protect and defend us. The story of Jesus blessing the children is about welcome and finding a home in the arms of Jesus. And, the story of the Prodigal Son is a story about coming home to the welcoming and forgiving Father. All of these stories describe home in some way.

The consistency is fascinating. One of the findings of the CAT survey is that Holy Trinity is a Hearth and Home congregation. As a community of faith, we “value structure and stability” and serve “as guardians of honored traditions of the church, as a shelter from the frenetic pace of change in the world.” We offer a place for people “to come home to”. This can be a gift to many in our northern Virginia mission context where many are transient. This is a faith community that has “the expectations and rewards of a family.” These are our strengths.2

Equally striking is that the Bible story illustrating the both the promise and the peril of a Hearth and Home congregation is the story of the Prodigal Son, one of the stories chosen by retreat participants. The promise, of course, is that like the forgiving and loving father in the story, we will open our arms and our hearts to everyone looking for a home, regardless of their background. Like the father in the story, we will defy convention to welcome the lost. We will take whatever risks necessary to share the love of Jesus with the world.

Yet, since Hearth and Home congregations value structure, stability and tradition, the peril is that we can get caught up in judging others and enforcing the rules, much like the elder brother in the story. We may resist opening our hearts to those who are different, or who bring different gifts to our community, because to do so would mean we would have to change.3

One of the gifts the CAT survey offers is the gift of self-knowledge. Knowing our strengths and our weaknesses allows us to choose more wisely. When confronted with a decision we may want to ask ourselves, are we behaving like the loving father? Or like the elder brother? Such self-knowledge may help us discern what kind of a home, what kind of a community, God is urging us to become.

Let us build a house where all are named, their songs and visions heard

and loved and treasured, taught and claimed as words within the Word.

Built of tears and cries and laughter, prayer of faith and songs of grace,

let this house proclaim from floor to rafter:

All are welcome, all are welcome,

All are welcome in this place.4

Pastor Margrethe

2Russell Crabtree, Owl Sight, Magi Press; 1st edition (2012)

3Ibid.

4Marty Haugen, All Are Welcome, op. cit.

The Stewardship Question is…

Posted on September 24, 2015September 24, 2015 by Leesa Bell

The Stewardship Question is…

Many, many thanks! You have been incredibly generous this year. Your offerings, including your response to our summer appeal and your gifts for our fiftieth anniversary, sustain the vital and life-giving ministries of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church.

145 children deepened their faith in Jesus through our Camp Discovery Vacation Bible School.

Eight of our high school youth felt the Spirit moving at the ELCA Youth Gathering in Detroit.

We were able to celebrate our fiftieth anniversary in air-conditioned comfort and host a sumptuous lunch!

The list could go on and on! Because of you, Holy Trinity Lutheran Church has been able to carry out the ministries to which Christ has called us in 2015. It is an honor and a privilege to serve such a faithful and generous congregation!

As we look forward to our life together in 2016, I commend the insights of poet Ann Weems on stewardship. She reframes the stewardship question in a way I find provocative.

PRAYER OF STEWARDSHIP

O Lord, forgive our fears

that so stifle our stewardship .

Forgive our giving in and our giving up

instead of giving ourselves

to Christ’s mission of love.

Remind us that our hope

is in standing up and risking,

in taking our stewardship seriously.

Help us to remember, O Lord, that

the stewardship question is not really,

How much we will give?

The stewardship question is,

How will we spend what we have been given?

We pray that it will be faithfully

and cheerfully.

As Commitment Sunday, October 11^th, approaches, I ask you to consider your personal spending plan for 2016. How will you spend what God has given you?

How will you spend on the health and well being of your family? How will you set aside funds for the future, for retirement or for that rainy day? How will you pay down any debts you may have incurred? And how will you spend on the kingdom of God, supporting Christ’s mission of love through Holy Trinity Lutheran Church?

Many people find making a pledge to the church (an annual financial commitment) to be helpful as they develop their budgets. However, if pledging is not a useful or comfortable tool for you, I encourage you to sit down and write out your own plan for faithful and cheerful spending in 2016. Check back with your plan in six months. Are you on track? Are you spending what God has given you in a faithful and cheerful manner?

May we all be faithful and cheerful spenders!

Pastor Margrethe

Welcome!

Posted on February 9, 2015August 25, 2015 by HTLC

Come and see what God is doing in this faith community! Holy Trinity has a caring preschool, a dynamic children’s ministry and a lively music program. Come and experience with us the new life that we have discovered in Jesus Christ!